Covering the WestSide as it is today and Challenging everyone to become involve as we move into the future.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Jobs results from buying into the "Green" Economy

This past Saturday I was a co-host on the radio show Emilie and Friends, which is broadcast on WVON 1690-AM every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. I got the opportunity late Thursday afternoon, which is the reason I didn't mention it in last week's column.

The show focused on "green" jobs, the much touted field everyone is talking about as the key to our slowing rebounding economy. If you're like me, you're not really sure what a "green" job is. Because of the multitude of experts that were part of the show on Saturday, I'm now better versed and able to explain what the "green" economy is.

First off, the term "green" just means anything involved in being ecologically responsible. Windows that keep in cool air in the summer and hot air in the winter are now "green" as opposed to just being called "energy efficient." The job of manufacturing those window to installing those windows to even the selling the windows all fall under the "green" umbrella.

Once I was able to understand the "green" economy in those terms, it was easy to understand the entire spectrum of jobs that can be created as a part of the process. Banks will lend money to buy, manufacture or install the windows. There will be a need for someone to move the windows from the factory to the store, and then from the store to the location where the windows will be used. There are jobs to be had in designing the house that uses those windows. There will be jobs designing landscaping products that will be used around the house that will help to make the house even "greener." The scope gets even bigger when you add wind and solar power as major catalysts for the "green" economy. Those new industries, for the most part, will be created right here in this country with jobs that cannot be outsourced.

Another interesting dimension of the "green" movement is urban farming. One of the best examples comes out of Milwaukee, Wis. Besides creating urban gardens which help produce fresh fruits and vegetables locally within the city, there are projects that include Aquaponics where fish like Tilapia and Yellow Perch can be raised indoors. Urban beekeepers produce honey and products that utilize it. There are those who raise worms, which produce manure, the perfect fertilizer for your plants and garden. It is easy to see how "green" is a full circle of things that are interrelated.

In the last hour of the show, one of the guests mentioned reusing items that normally would go into a landfill when houses are demolished to make way for a new home. I immediately thought of my own kitchen. My original kitchen was a horrible sight to see. Imagine yellow plastic tiles on the wall topped off with black bull-nose tiles. The floors were an ugly red and white checkerboard tile. The cabinets were OK, but didn't give me any countertop room. When I had a second story added and the kitchen was partially destroyed in the process, it gave me an opportunity to redo the kitchen.

As most people are aware, remodeling a kitchen is costly. Saving money became my main goal. What I ended up doing was finding a house in Winnetka that was about to be torn down. The cabinets were extra tall and one needs to have ceilings at least 9 feet high to use cabinets that are 4 feet tall. I was the only one who bid on the cabinets and ended up paying $700 for an entire kitchen of cabinets. I paid a friend to remove them and then re-used them in my own kitchen.

I did it because of economics, but this is also part of the new "green" industry. Companies now specialize in selling parts of houses to be used by people when they need parts to repair their own vintage homes. There are even resale stores that specialize in selling those items for the home.

Here on the West Side, we have the Chicago Center for Green Technology at 445 N. Sacramento. I would suggest that anyone who wants to learn more about the future of "green," and the jobs that can come with it, visit the center and learn more.

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Arlene Jones

EMAIL ME: WESTSIDE2DAY@YAHOO.COM

Arlene Jones' Biography

I was born in Chicago. I grew up in Cabrini Green. I attended Wells Sr High, the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle where I majored in Spanish and minored in Education. I have a diploma in Computer Programming.

I moved to Austin when I purchased a home here. I have two children.

I have been active in the community since moving here. I started with my blockclub. In the early 1990s, I worked with several people to try and form the North Austin Homeowners Association. I even went on patrol with a group of people who had a walkie talkie car patrol of the neighborhood.

As with most programs in the AA community, many factors led to the demise of those groups. Lack of support from elected officials was at the top of the list.

There were several people who had a group and we met out of DaVinci Manor. DaVinci Manor was at the corner of North Ave and Central where Walgreen now stands. Again there was very little interest in saving that building and our community lost a beautiful hall.

I have protested the state of the Central Ave bridge. I worked with Leola Spann and did many a smoke out including one in the 1500 block of North Lorel where drug paraphenalia layed on the ground. I have over the years here in Austin worked with the following groups at one point or another:
Northeast Austin Organization (Mary Volpe, Tom Hosea);
Northwest Austin Council;
Mad Dads;
Brotherhood of Black Men;
Westside Health Authority;
Nobel Neighbors;
Every Block A Village;
Beat 2532;
25th District Housing Committee;
WVON Volunteer;
African American Employees at the Merchandise Mart (AAEMM);
Lafollette Park Advisory Council;
Garfield Park Conservatory Advisory Council;
Westside Executive Advisory Council;
Austin Landmark Cultural Center;
Concerned Citizens of East Garfield Park

and so many others that it gets hard to remember.

Arlene Jones

QUOTE OF THE DAY

If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. -- Malcolm X